The Dark in the Light
by balbriggansmith
Summary: Thousands of years are nothing to spirits, but to humans memory fades over. Sokka stumbles upon one such memory in the form of a young girl on a quest. The past is revealed and old wounds are torn open as war engulfs the world with one young avatar trapped in the middle. R


A screech echoes through the tunnel, sound waves bouncing off the walls. She froze for a second before moving forward again. A viper-bat, poisonous winged rodents who have been known to overwhelm people in great swarms, she would have to be careful here. Where there's one there's more and bending or no bending, you should always avoid viper-bats. That's what her grandma always said, you don't tempt fate needlessly. She held those words to heart along with everything her grandma said. She needed too since she wouldn't see her for a long time. She had to make it to the surface, she was chosen by the elders to complete this mission. A mission to find others, anyone else, a single person. Proof they weren't alone in the world.

Her people had lived beneath the mythical surface world for generations. It was said that they descended below thousands of years ago after a great war and now she has been sent to find a way back to that world. That and see if anyone survived this war. She didn't really understand the concept of war, she had been told that it was lots of people killing each other for a reason. She often wondered what reason there could be. She had seen people killed for breaking the law, she had even been the executioner once or twice but she still couldn't see what that many people could of done to deserve to die. Was it simply because they were killing each other that they were killing each other?

Shaking her head she hugged to the wall. It was the time for questions about such things. Right now she had to clear her mind and sharpen her senses. The tunnels were no place to let her mind wander. She crept along at a slow pace occasionally scanning her surroundings. Grey rock and more grey rock. It was a change of pace from the designed tunnels of her own people. Everything was wilder here. She continued to move forward until she found what appeared to be a hall. She looked around curiously. There appeared to be a stone desk complete with a stone chair facing away from her. Beyond was a huge archway flanked by two equally as massive statues of ancient warriors. She supposed this room was the way into the old city as shown on her map, a checkpoint the elders called it, a place people had to pass through for security reasons. This would mean that if grandma was correct, she had a way to the surface.

Swallowing nervously she began to walk across the floor. She looked up at the imposing structures the statues were. She couldn't help but notice the cuts all over them. She scanned the floor to find more of the same along with bones. She picked one up, it was human, she recognized it from the ones she saw in the old city where her peoples last stand was. This was the result of a battle. Discarded bones still in their armour, her peoples armour, their enemies armour. She clenched her fist and walked up to one of the skeletons. It appeared to be an enemy, surrounded by the bones of her forefathers. It had a simple item around its neck, a pendant. It had swirls and wavy lines on it. She scanned the others and found it on them too. So this enemy had this as their symbol. She should keep her guard up when she got to the surface.

She went up the stairs while putting the medallion in her bag. Suddenly something changed. Something strange was up ahead. Was this what she though it was? Grandma had called this light. She fumbled in her bad for the special glasses she had been given. The black glass was meant to filter out a lot of the light. She put them on and sighed in relief, it was still quite...what was the word, bright? Yes that was it. She could deal with this though, it wasn't painful any more. She walked forward as the light embraced her.

Colours, they were everywhere. Green things on brown things. Trees, that was it thought the girl to herself. Her grandma had described this to her, one of their old allies once bent this wood. The blue, that great mass of blue was water called the ocean or sea. Her red eyes lit up behind the shades. This was incredible she thought as she walked forward. She yelped and looked down. She dove her hand into the substance and watch the grains blow in the wind. Sand was what this was called, so this was a beach. She grinning like an idiot as she observed this new world until she remembered that she had a job to do. She went to bend, she had to send a message home. Nothing happened.

She panicked for a few seconds until she realised that she needed her element to bend. She ran up to a tree and saw the shadow. It was weird, like a reflection of the tree. It wasn't very good but it was still dark and that's all that mattered to her. She quickly wrote her findings on a scroll and sent them by throwing it into the shadow. She watched as it vanished, noting the difference between it and what was a normal shadow, she would write about that next time. She picked herself up and looked around.

There didn't seem to be much around and so she began to walked. Walking through the woods was an interesting experience. She saw things she had only heard in myths and legends past down the generations. Birds flew through the air, chittering above her head and small creatures covered in fur ran around. She smiled as she took out some ink, a scroll and a quill. She wrote about the little creatures with there bushy tails and affinity for nuts along with the birds and their squabbles over who gets what twig and who gets what branch. She thought it was all adorable.

It was then however that they all vanished. She heard a growl. Turning she came face to face to something dangerous, something called a razor-wolf. She stood straight and fixed herself. She looked it in the eye. Light or no light, the shadows lay everywhere in these woods. Her bending may be weaker, but she knew she could take out her opponent. It snarled and leapt only to be met by a blow to the side of the head. The shadow had reached out from behind the tree and struck as though a fist. The razor-wolf collapsed unconscious on the ground. She had been told about these creatures though she couldn't remember if these were the ones who moved in packs or not. Deciding it would be wiser to move on , she once again put her scroll away and moved on.

It took a while but she eventually came to a clearing. She walked out on to the rock to see a waterfall and river. Water, the type you drink it would seem. She had always wondered what water looked like on the surface and now she had seen the sea and a river. It was shaping up to be a good day. She filled her flask up and took out her scroll again, writing about how the sun glistened on the river and the fishes that almost seemed to leap down the waterfall breaking for freedom. She was so absorbed in her writing that she didn't notice a young man of the water tribe approach.

* * *

"I don't believe her" muttered Sokka as he walked away form his two comrades, "She steals a water bending scroll and set a ton of pirates on us doing it and acts like it's a _good _thing"

He shook his head and continued walking, he needed to go upstream and just clear his head. Maybe he was over-reacting for once, maybe they wouldn't give chase. After all Aang needed the scroll to learn water bending before the comet comes. He was still muttering to himself when he came across a young girl. He looked right at her, her silver hair streaming down her back beyond her waist, her pale skin almost glistening in the sun. He blinked, who the hell was she being his foremost thought.

"Eh, excuse me" he called out clumsily, "Who are you"

The girl froze and turned to look at him. It seems she was wearing strange glasses. She quickly rolled up the scroll and stood. She was also wearing weird clothes he'd never seen before. The dress was mostly black with bits of white at the collar and the end of the sleeve. It ended at her knees showing some black material over her legs. The sleeves widened the closer they got to the wrists so this outfit couldn't of been for practical travel. The whole thing seemed to be tightened on to her with chords.

"Eh...I...Hello" she stuttered out nervously, "My..my name is Lynxia"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Sokka" he said trying to be as friendly as possible, she was obviously frightened after all.

"N-nice to meet you" she murmured shyly.

"So what brings you out to these neck of the woods" smiled Sokka sitting on a nearby rock. The girl seemed dazed for a second before sitting back down on her own rock.

"Research" she said with more confidence, "I'm writing about the things I learn and then send them home"

"I see, that's really impressive" said Sokka, remembering his won efforts at helping his home, "Me and my friends are travelling to the north pole so they can learn how to magic water better or something"

"You mean like...water bending?"

"That's what they call it, to be honest all I've seen his how well it can wash away our supplies" he grumbled crossing his arms.

"Did something happen" she queried, cocking her head to one side.

"Did something happen? Of course something happened, my sister Katara happened" he complained loudly, "She just went up and stole a water bending scroll off some pirates"

"She stole something" she said her eyes wide. She looked absolutely horrified.

"Well it wasn't that bad, since the pirates stole it in the first place" He complained, waving his hands around, "But still, the pirates came after us with the intent to kill as they do and we got chased out of town"

"Whe-where I am from people are put to death for stealing" she stuttered out, still horror stricken.

"Yeah exac...wait? WHAT?"

"Yes, I couldn't even imagine the idea of stealing let alone the idea of people stealing form people who stole things"

"Well in most places people aren't put to death for stealing"

"Really?"

"Yeah of course"

"That is different, very different" she murmured, "I will have to write that down"

"Well, yeah" said Sokka stunned, this was one strange girl all right, no doubt about it. Least she was cute though, well beautiful but the point stands.

"Sokka, could you show me more of this world" she said peering up a the waterfall, "I know less than I thought and the wisdom in travelling with one that knows this world cannot be denied"

"I suppose so, but you'll constantly be in danger if you come with us, we've hard a rough ride so far and some people really want to find us"

"Like pirates?"

"Like worse"

"Like what"

"The Fire Nation" said Sokka after a moments pause. He decided to wait for that to set in, if she _really _wanted to come she could but not without knowing what she's getting herself in for first. He had no doubt however that she wouldn't come, whatever danger she might be in now wouldn't come close.

"Why is this...Fire Nation after you"

"We're...travelling with the Avatar" he said, he wasn't going to start being a hypocrite now.

"What's an Avatar?"

"What did you just say?" said Sokka, jaw dropping.

"Right then" said Katara smiling, time to practice. This water bending scroll was wonderful, the perfect art and the _forms. _She loved it, it was the key to advancing her training and the key to helping Aang, of course. She laid down the scroll on the rock about ten feet down river and started some simple forms, the stuff she would move on from once she had more advanced techniques. She started moving the waves in and out to get the feel of the water.

One thing she had noticed was how all water was different, most water had other things in it that made it heavier and more difficult to use. That said if one got used to heavier water you ran the chance of getting to used to putting a certain amount of effort in to it. You could over shoot a target this way, you could even hit a target _too_ hard. This is why she had gotten into this habit and it was good one, it built stamina for prolonged bending too.

After getting the feel of it she decided to try the water whip, it seemed really easy. She would have it in no time. She lifted a stream of water out of the river and wove it through the air. She then went to make the motions on the scroll.

Only for the water fall with a splash.

She took another deep breath and went to start again. She once again lifted the water out of the river and began the motion again. Her concentration was impeccable, she really wanted to get this, to learn water bending after so long. She was so absorbed in her task that she failed to notice a younger boy approach, clicking his glider into place so it looked like a staff. His eyes lit up as he saw her water bend.

"Hey Katara" he called out. Katara quickly lost concentration halfway through the water whip and struck herself in the face. She glared at the young boy as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"What is it Aang"

"Well I wondering if you could continue to teach me" he said sitting on an air ball, "Y'know the whole defeat the fire lord before the comet comes thing"

"Not right now" she said focusing intently on the next stream of water, "I have to it learn first before I teach you"

"The maybe we can learn together and-"

"No Aang, will you please leave me alone" she snapped letting the water drop. Why couldn't he understand, she had waited years for this. She had struggled on her own for months to get as far as she did and now she finally gets a break and he want to butt in. This was ridiculous. She was trying to concentrate, this was hard enough as it is without him trying to show of some air trick again.

"O-okay" he said, taking a step back, "Sorry, I'll leave you to it then"

He quickly walked away, hurt that she didn't even notice him leave as she started again. Sighing he soon found and lay down next to Appa, his big furry friend grunting in what he knew was concern. Momo also popped out of nowhere and ran over too him, snuggling into his stomach. Aang smiled as he scratched his friends ear, the lemur purring at the touch. Whenever he lost his centre or was unsure of something, his friends were always there.

"It's okay guys" smiled the air bender, "She's probably just stressed out, seems like we've been running for ages after all, the pirates were just the latest, we all have our bad days"

Lynxia sat wide eyed through Sokka's tales, bewildered at the wellspring of knowledge the boy seemed to possess and recall with perfect accuracy. First he had covered what he called 'the basics', a quickened lesson on the Avatar and the cycle of rebirth. He claimed not to know as much as others about it and then explained the entire system of mastering the four elements and the rebirthing process. He then told her of his situation him and his sister were in along with the rest of the world. There was a war, but not the one she studied, a new war for the last hundred years, a measurement for time he described to her.

He then told her about his home and the local culture. He even shared ancient traditions with her saying that all people could learn form them like his father did. She nodded enthusiastically and took down notes about every little thing. She had so much to send back to the village and was excited to hear more. To think that such an individual had agreed to be her guide in this world. He even had this way of explaining things in simple terms so anyone could understand, something some people back home would be grateful of.

He seemed less than intelligent yet had so much knowledge, he didn't seem to like bending of any kind yet knew so much about it. He claimed to be a warrior yet tried to avoid unnecessary confrontation. The man was a strange conundrum, he sometimes claimed to not know much yet other times boasted that he did know things. She had ended up very curious to how he viewed the world, such insight could be invaluable if her people were to seek the surface again.

"Thank you for that lesson Sokka" she said politely, "I feel much more enlightened about this world, my people will be happy to hear so much exists up here"

"And I've so much more to tell" he said spreading his arms wide like an entertainer. She nodded eagerly in response, happy to hear more about the world. She was also looking forward to seeing this Avatar he spoke of, he called him a kid, a young boy he explained and he apparently had the responsibility to defeat the Fire Lord to restore the balance. It seemed like a huge mission for one so young, but then again here was she. She was still confused about one thing however, how did her people fit into this balance. She did not bend any of the four elements he described.

It was a question that would have to wait for later it would seem as Sokka seemed to be getting tired. No doubt he wished to return to his camp, their camped now it would seem.

"Shall we get going then, I can not wait to meet your camp-mates"

"Sure, they'll be happy to see you, more the merrier I always say" he laughed while motioning her to follow. She quickly made her way after him, excited to see what the future held for her.


End file.
